


Final Fantasy

by Lavian



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Crystal - Freeform, Empire, Female Protagonist, Gridania, Limsa Lominsa (Final Fantasy XIV), Magitek, Moogles, Other, Ul'dah (Final Fantasy XIV), final fantasy 14
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 10:40:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13715943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavian/pseuds/Lavian
Summary: Utterly defeated, powerless…What could one hope to do, but despair against such overwhelming fury.They could do naught but look on in horror as the elder primal laid waste to the realm, bathing the land in flames wrought from aeons of indignant rage.





	Final Fantasy

 

  

Utterly defeated, powerless…

What could one hope to do, but despair against such overwhelming fury.

They could do naught but look on in horror as the elder primal laid waste to the realm, bathing the land in flames wrought from aeons of indignant rage.

The rain of fire bombarded the land without mercy, shaking the very foundation as Bahamut tore through the heavens, obliterating everything in its wake.

What remained of the armies on both sides had long since broken ranks. Bitter enemies, their conflict forgotten, all fled the battlefield together amidst the screams, explosions and chaos as hellfire rained down.

 

The air, heavy, awash with the chaotic torrent of aether bathing the once raging battlefield, invisible yet unmistakable.

Heat, ash and dust scorching their lungs and thundering explosions drowning out all but the wrathful roar that enveloped the heavens. The last remaining adventurers rallied around the Archon, Louisoix, who stood on an outcropping, overlooking the battlefield. A protective shell of light providing refuge from the rain of fire. The divine light of his staff serving as a beacon for the adventurers. The brave and loyal souls that yet stood with him amongst the chaos.

 

Powerless, they could only look to the Archon to enact the desperate plan that they had laid the groundwork for, not so long ago.

A divine radiance surrounded him. The manifestation of the prayers of countless souls beseeching the twelve for but one thing.

 

Salvation.

 

Bahamut, as if sensing the Archon’s power, descended from the heavens.

Its massive wings parting cloud and smoke, as it hovered above the warriors, letting loose a torrent of flares that shattered the protective barrier, laying them bare before the elder primal, barely able to hold their ground against the force of the explosion.

Yet even as the shield dissolved around them, a massive pillar of light rose above the Archon and from locations across Mor Dhona, and pierced Bahamut twelve times over.

She knew what he was doing. Committing a great and terrible sin to deliver the realm from utter annihilation.

Lousoix was well aware that the summoning of the twelve deities could, and most likely would, grievously wound Hydaelyn. And for a moment when a prison of light took shape around the Elder Primal, and Aetherial glyphs manifested in the sky, bleeding the aether from it, his resolve faltered.

In that moment, the Archon’s last resort had failed, as Bahamut broke free of its fetters, an uncontainable rage shattering the wards that would see him imprisoned once more. The force of its might flooring them all.

 

The Archon fell to his hands and knees, gasping and utterly drained. Feeling the earth between his fingers as he clenched his teeth in frustration upon realizing his grievous error.

Shocked and thoroughly disheartened, their hopes laid to ruin, yet still the adventurers stood up and rallied around the Archon as Bahamut summoned its full strength. Arcs of roaring flame twisted above the Elder Primal, coalescing into a growing sphere, blotting out the night sky and bathing the land in fiery light.

In his indecisiveness, he had failed them.

He had failed Eorzea.

His heart sank, an oppressive guilt pressing down on his shoulders.

The end was inevitable.

Lifting his head skyward to face the impending end, his eyes coming to rest on  the back of a lone adventurer as she stood tall before him, shielding him from the glare and heat of the growing inferno overhead. Her sword drawn in a final gesture of defiance against the inevitable.

 

This adventurer he had been fortunate enough to cross paths with when this all began.

She had been his selfless and unyielding sword, cutting him a path to this very point, and a rallying force for Eorzea and her fellow adventurers.

The loyalty and sacrifices of this adventurer and those under her command, now answered with failure.

 

As if sensing his eyes on her, she turned her head, casting him a warm, bittersweet smile over her shoulder, before turning back to the beast above her.

 

After all this, even now, to be able to smile like that. A smile that assured him she had made peace with what was about to happen. To assuage him of his guilt and to bid farewell to a dear friend.

 

She didn’t deserve this, none of them did. They shouldn’t have to pay for his failure. But he could do naught to save the realm, not even the few remaining souls that still gathered around him.

 

But one…maybe he had strength enough left to save her.

 

A small chance…under these conditions.

 

A forbidden spell...

 

Should she perish, swept up and torn asunder by the chaotic torrential currents of aether that smothered the land in Bahamut’s wake, it would be a far better fate than the one they now faced.

 

_‘Forgive me, my friend.  But this is all I can offer you. All I can offer Eorzea…’_

Her sense of touch was the first to go. Her weapon slipping from her grip, to fall at her feet. Bringing a hand to her face, her skin emitting an increasingly bright atherial glow, she knew not what was happening, but knew immediately who was responsible.

She spun around to face the archon, a silent apology and a pained smile on his lips.

 

_She was being saved._

_No!_ she shouted, her hand outstretched to her old friend. But her voice was gone and her legs were anchored in place.

 

_‘Louisoix!’_

And with a wave of his hand, her world was enveloped in blinding light.

 

 

This light however, was quickly consumed by darkness.

 

Memories, faces, joy, sorrow, a culmination of her every experience flowing through her before being smothered and consumed by a raging sea of infinite nothingness.

Try as she might to hold on to these precious things, her consciousness was rapidly fading. She was drowning, her very being, dismantled piece by piece with every passing moment. Panic was all she knew in those moments as she fought to hold on to her very soul.

 

Then, amidst the sea of darkness, shone a single point of light. She tried to reach out to it, but her body was gone.

 

Panic replaced by overwhelming despair and sadness.

 _‘Help…’_ she pleaded.

It was the only conscious thought she could still muster.

_‘Help…’_

And just as it threatened to consume the last vestiges of her mind and soul, the darkness was violently thrown apart. Torn asunder by the rapidly expanding light.

Plucked from the ravenous sea of darkness and wrapped in the embrace of a warm, protective light. As her consciousness finally faded, a voice echoed through her…

 

_…Sleep._

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Hear…_

A distant voice called to her.

_Think…_

The veil of unconsciousness being slowly lifted from her mind.

 

_Feel…_

Her first breath filling her lungs. She could barely move, couldn’t open her eyes. Even as her mind awoke, she could only passively listen.

 

The sounds of countless voices, chaotic and unintelligible, lingered at the edges of her hearing.

 

_Teach…_

Images filled her mind, thought, emotion, words.

 

 

_Hope…_

The maternal voice continued to echo throughout her very being.

Her fingers twitched, as feeling returned to her body. A warmth washing over her. Lulling her. And keeping her at the brink of sleep.

 

_Hope…_

 

_Wish…_

Her eyes stung, wetness on her cheeks, as she listened, as she learned…as she awoke.

_Tell…_

_Speak…_

_Speak…_

_Speak…_

The words repeated for a moment before she understood the command.

 

“Who are you…?”

 

“Where am I…?”

 

Her thoughts echoed in her mind.

 

Moments of silence lingered before the voice spoke once more. A tinge of satisfaction…elation maybe?

 

_Beloved daughter._

 

_It is time._

“Time?”

 

“I don’t understand…”

 

She could feel tendrils of warmth withdrawing from her skin, the brightness behind her closed eyelids dimming.

 

“Wait!”

 

_Open your eyes._

 

* * *

 

Cold air filled her lungs, sending her into a coughing fit.

Sounds of life filled the air.

Grass tickled her skin and dried leaves crunched between her fingers.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open. The hands in front her face were her own. She stared at them as if seeing them for the first time, flexing her fingers through the leaves and short grass.

She closed her eyes, running a mental check on her body, fingers, toes, all working. She wasn’t in any pain, but her body felt heavy.

 

 _‘Where am I?’ ,_ she opened her eyes, her gaze drifting skyward to come face to face with…

 

“Kupo?”

 

“Moogle…”, she muttered, unfazed by the furry creature inches from her face.

 

“You’re alive!”

“That’s a relief!” , “I had feared the worst when we found you!”

 

“D o n ’t   g e t   s o   c l o s e   t o   h e r,  k u p o,   s h e   m i g h t   e a t   y o u!” , another voice warned.

 

She looked behind the first moogle in her personal space to see even more of the furry creatures floating beneath the think canopy of trees overhead.

 

“Don’t be silly! Humans don’t eat moogles! Kupo”, he shouted to his companions.

 

“You don’t eat moogles do you?”, he turned to her once more, quirking his head to the side.

 

“I don’t think so”, she whispered, supressing another cough. Her throat felt dry.

 

“Oi stop gawking and bring some water!”, he called up into the trees.

 

“I must apologise for my fellow moogles, they haven’t had much contact with humans, especially way out here”.

 

“Here?”, “Where am I?”

 

“Why, the Twelveswood of course, though it’s extremely rare for humans to wander this far into the forest”.

 

“How did you get here,kupo?”

 

“I…”, she searched her memory. “I can’t…”

“I can’t remember…”, her brow furrowed in frustration.

 

“Kupo?”, “Memory loss is it?”

“Maybe you hit your head”

“Do you remember your name?”

 

“Lavian”, she answered immediately, surprising herself with how easily that bit of information came to her.

 

“Aha!”, “If you can remember your name, I’m sure it’ll all come back to you eventually!”

 

“I’m Kuplo Kopp by the way, and uh, that’s Mopl…..”

“A h !   d o n ’t   g i v e   i t   m y   n a m e !”

 

“What can she possibly do with your name! Kupo!”, an annoyed Kuplo Kopp shouted up at the trees.

 

Her memory loss should probably worry her more than it did, but she felt surprisingly calm.

 

In any case, lying on the forest floor any longer would accomplish nothing. Her body felt heavy as she pushed herself up to a sitting position.

 

“Ah! Wait! Wait! Should you be moving?”, the flustered moogle flitted around her, frantically waving his arms.

 

“I’m fine, I don’t think I’m hurt”, she assured him as she tried to stand, only to stagger back.

 

“Whoa! Kupopo!”

 

The world around her swam wildly for a moment, toppling her backwards, but the moogle managed to get behind her, pushing against her back with all its might, its tiny wings flapping vigorously until she stood upright.

 

“Th..thanks”, she tried to maintain her balance on shaky legs.

 

“I told you! Kupo!”, Kuplo Kopp chastised her while steadying her by the shoulder.

 

“D o n ’t   t o u c h   I t !   A r e   y o u  c r a z y,   k u p o !”

 

“What are you on about now?!”

 

“I t’s   o b v I o u s l y   s i c k,   l o o k !   i t s   m i s s i n g   i t s   f u r !”,  “y o u   m i g h t   c a t c h   s o m e t h i n g !”

 

“Idiot!”, Kuplo Kopp shouted. “Humans don’t have fur! , she’s just naked!”

 

“Huh?”, she blinked, looking herself over, even as she struggled to keep her balance.

 

“Where are my clothes?”, and why was she just now noticing this?

 

“Kupo?, you were like this when we found you”, “Maybe you went swimming and hit your head”, “There are a few rivers and springs around the forest”.

 

“I see”, her physical state, much like her mental state, worrying her much less than she thought it should.

 

“I think…I think I can walk”, she gently brushed him off her shoulder, taking a few unsteady steps forward, before she found her legs. Dried leaves crunching beneath her feet while the moogle hovered around the whole time, should she fall over again.

 

Apparently they were somewhere in the mountains. Before her, or rather below her, the forest stretched across the horizon as far as she could see. Tiny patches of firelight peaked through the trees here and there. Likely villages and outposts, she reasoned.

 

“Finally!”, she heard Kuplo exclaim, and she turned to face him just as another moogle darted off into the trees. “Here you go”, he offered her the small saucer of water.

“Thank you”, she gratefully accepted. The water, sweet and almost foreign to her. Like everything, the wind on her skin, the sound of chirping crickets and rustling leaves, every breath she took, every sight she beheld. It all felt, off, intriguing…new.

 

“Gridania…there’s a city called Gridania”, “If I’m in the Twelveswood, someone there might know who I am”

 

_‘Good, at least I haven’t lost all memory.’_

 

“I need to get there…do you know where it is?”, she asked as she handed him the saucer

“Of course I know where it is! Kupo!”

“It’s like my home away from home”

“But you’re not gonna make it there, especially walking in the state you’re in”

The moogle snapped his fingers, “Oi! Get down here!”

In response, a tattered cloth sheet fluttered down from the trees, which he promptly caught. “Cowards!”

“Here, kupo”, “put this on, you’re like to attract unwanted attention, strolling up to a human village in the state you’re in”.

“I see...you have a point”, she nodded.

“I can take you to the nearest village, and from there we can get you a chocobo carriage to Gridania”

“Thank you, Kuplo Kopp, I really appreciate this”, she bowed her head as she finished wrapping the sheet around her body.

“Don’t mention it, kupo!”, he gave her a thumbs up.

“You seem like a nice lady, and I pride myself on being a good judge of humans”.

“Besides, not many humans can see us, unless we want to be seen of course, that alone means something, kupo”.

“Are you sure you don’t need to rest a while longer?”.

She shook her head, “No, I can make it”.

“Lead the way”.


End file.
